ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thai protest heads call end to sit-in, "to prevent more casualties."
BANGKOK — Two key leaders of Thailand's Red Shirt protesters have surrendered to authorities after a deadly army assault on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in central Bangkok.
Red Shirt leaders told followers they are formally ending their sit-in to prevent more deaths.
An army assault on their heavily barricaded protest encampment in central Bangkok killed at least two protesters and an Italian photographer.
As the protest leaders announced the surrender, grenades directed at the troops exploded. One journalist was injured.
Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a shopping mall and drove away journalists who tried to film them.
At least 37 people were killed over five days of rioting and clashes in downtown sections of Bangkok, paralyzing parts of the capital and destabilizing a country regarded as one of Southeast Asia's strongest democracies.
The military defended its use of deadly but limited force, saying troops only fired to protect themselves and Bangkok's citizens and did not pursue pre-emptive attacks.
The Red Shirts have for a month occupied a 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) chunk of downtown Bangkok's best real estate, camping in the streets next to shuttered five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
The protesters, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, demanded the prime minister dissolve Parliament and call early elections. They say the current administration came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it goes against results of a 2007 election to restore democracy after a military coup.
BANGKOK — Two key leaders of Thailand's Red Shirt protesters have surrendered to authorities after a deadly army assault on their fortified encampment. They have been led away by police in central Bangkok.
Red Shirt leaders told followers they are formally ending their sit-in to prevent more deaths.
An army assault on their heavily barricaded protest encampment in central Bangkok killed at least two protesters and an Italian photographer.
As the protest leaders announced the surrender, grenades directed at the troops exploded. One journalist was injured.
Angry protesters also tried to set fire to a shopping mall and drove away journalists who tried to film them.
At least 37 people were killed over five days of rioting and clashes in downtown sections of Bangkok, paralyzing parts of the capital and destabilizing a country regarded as one of Southeast Asia's strongest democracies.
The military defended its use of deadly but limited force, saying troops only fired to protect themselves and Bangkok's citizens and did not pursue pre-emptive attacks.
The Red Shirts have for a month occupied a 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) chunk of downtown Bangkok's best real estate, camping in the streets next to shuttered five-star hotels and upscale shopping malls.
The protesters, many of whom hail from the impoverished north and northeast, demanded the prime minister dissolve Parliament and call early elections. They say the current administration came to power through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, and that it goes against results of a 2007 election to restore democracy after a military coup.
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